Press Releases / Bishops Appoint the Revd Pat Storey as new Bishop of Meath and Kildare

The House of Bishops of the Church of Ireland meeting
yesterday in Dublin appointed the Revd Pat (Patricia) Storey as the new Bishop
of Meath and Kildare, to succeed The Most Revd Dr Richard Clarke, who is now
Archbishop of Armagh. The appointment of the new bishop had passed to the House
of Bishops as the Episcopal Electoral College which met on 28 May failed to
appoint a Bishop of Meath and Kildare dioceses. The Revd Pat Storey is
currently Rector of St Augustine’s Parish Church, Londonderry.

Announcing the appointment of the
Revd Pat Storey, The Most Revd Dr Richard Clarke, Archbishop of Armagh and
Primate of All Ireland, said: ‘Having known Pat Storey since she was an
undergraduate and I was Chaplain at Trinity College, Dublin, I very much
welcome her as a new bishop. She is a person of great warmth, intelligence and
spiritual depth and I am certain that her ministry in the Dioceses of Meath and
Kildare and the wider Church will be a blessing to many. We remember her and
her family in our prayers.’

Responding, the Revd Pat Storey said: ‘I am both excited and
daunted by this new adventure in our lives. I have had an extraordinarily happy
experience in St Augustine’s and in this wonderful city which I will be sad to
leave. However, I count it an enormous privilege to begin a new phase of my
ministry with the people of Meath and Kildare, and I look forward to working
with the team of clergy who are already there. I would sincerely ask for your
prayers for myself and my family, who are the best family in the world!’

The Revd
Pat Storey (53) has been Rector of St Augustine’s, Londonderry (Derry and
Raphoe) since 2004. She is married to the Revd Earl Storey and has two adult
children, Carolyn and Luke, and a son–in–law Peter. Having grown up in Belfast
and studied French and English at Trinity College, Dublin, she trained at the
Church of Ireland Theological College (now Institute) and was ordained deacon
in 1997 and priest in 1998. She served a Curacy in Ballymena (Connor) and was a
Team Vicar in Glenavy (Connor) and a part–time Youth Worker Co–ordinator with
the Church of Ireland Youth Department. She was a youth worker in Kill O the
Grange Parish from 1982 to 1983.

Among Central Church participation, she is a
member of the Standing Committee of the General Synod. The Revd Pat Storey
becomes the first woman to be appointed a bishop in the Church of Ireland.

The consecration of the new
bishop will take place in due course, followed by enthronement in the diocesan
cathedrals thereafter.